Major League Baseball has chance for banner season

Other sports' labor troubles may help cause of America's pastime

The words rang true on a Hollywood set 20-something years ago, and not much has changed in 2011:

America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. Our need for speed and loud crashes has spawned a generation of football addicts. Our field of dreams now comes with goalposts.

But sometime this summer, Major League Baseball might have a moment to shine. In all likelihood, NFL players still will be bickering with owners on how to split $9 billion, and training camps will remain dark. NBA players could be locked out by their employers, embarking on their own nasty labor confrontation.

Fans will be feeling agitated, helpless, forgotten, displaced, on their own.

The one constant will be baseball.

"I think our sport is in a pretty good place," Diamondbacks Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick said. "Our labor atmosphere appears to be less stressful than at any point I can remember, and the cost of our sport is much more affordable for families in a tough economy."

Baseball could benefit from the misfortune of other sports leagues. Most polls show the majority of sports fans blame football players for the current mess in the NFL, which is startling since those players never asked for a penny.

It reinforces something very basic about American fandom. Although we identify with the athletes - we dream of being the star quarterback, not the fat cat owner - public opinion is quick to turn on millionaire athletes, especially in times such as these. This helps explain why NFL owners feel so empowered in this current dispute.

If our perception is that football and basketball players, living a dream life and playing a game for a living, can't agree to financial givebacks that have become reality for many of the rest of us working stiffs, it might help fans rally around baseball players who are still working.

Bottom line: Two major professional sports leagues could endure a work stoppage in the coming months. A loss of actual NFL games could have a dramatic effect on our national mood, breaking the cycle of Sunday football in America. It is possible that Major League Baseball could enjoy a September pennant chase with very little competition other than college football.

"Having been through work stoppages, I would not wish that on any league or its fans," Diamondbacks' President and CEO Derrick Hall said. "I certainly do not want to see either league go through one. More eyes would be on our sport as the only game in town, but I would rather have four healthy sports in our market."

Locally, the Diamondbacks might not be ready for additional scrutiny. The team should be better than the ones that combined for 189 losses the past two years, but the team is scrawny and underfed. There are question marks in left field, third base, first base and the rotation is not of championship caliber.

Before the start of spring training, manager Kirk Gibson tried to forge a sharper edge in the clubhouse, employing some of his football mentality and ignoring the lukewarm predictions for his baseball team.

"I was on a team in 1988 that won the World Series, and nobody picked us to do anything. The Padres last year, nobody picked them. The Giants, nobody picked them.

"It's like back when Tiger (Woods) was in his heyday, and people always asked, 'Who are you going to take, Tiger or the field? Chances are, the field won. Well, we're in the field."

While a ragged performance in the Cactus League has dampened local optimism, the upcoming All-Star Game will add a great sense of energy to the Diamondbacks' season. Besides, it feels like baseball is ready for a spiritual rebirth.

Barry Bonds is currently on trial. A jail cell soon might open for Roger Clemens. The game has returned to the pitchers, and the Phillies have assembled one of the better rotations in history.

The Reds have a kid who throws 105 mph. The Red Sox have great speed at the top of their lineup. Derek Jeter is closing in on his 3,000th hit. Atlanta will discover life after Bobby Cox. Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez have reunited in Tampa. And come September, you might wake up and find no football on television.

You will turn to a pennant race or a wild-card team and remember all that once was good, and could be again.